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Using information for 'data-rich' species to inform assessments of 'data-poor' species through Bayesian stock assessment methods

Project number: 2002-094
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $176,237.00
Principal Investigator: David Smith
Organisation: Agriculture Victoria
Project start/end date: 29 Sep 2002 - 30 Nov 2005
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Over 300 species are caught in the SEF, of which around 100 have commercial value. Twenty five species comprise around 90% of the landed catch. Each year, however, quotas are set for only around 17 species. There are 10 of these species for which there is (or has been) some formal stock assessment (that may not occur every year). For all of the remaining quota species and some of the more important non-quota species, no formal assessment is undertaken and the only assessment that can be made is based on investigation of trends in catch and effort and size distribution and anecdotal input from scientists and industry. There is simply not enough resources to undertake formal stock assessments for the wide range of commercial species landed in the SEF. Yet, each of these species is an important component of the catch of fishers. If the fishery is to continue to operate in its current form and meet the strategic assessments required under the EPBC Act, some form of formal assessment is required.

A recently completed ARF project (Production parameters from the fisheries literature for SEF-like species - Project no R99/0308) demonstrated the utility of using information for "similar" species when conducting assessments for SEF species. Using key parameters such as the virgin biomass, the rate of natural mortality, and the “steepness” of the stock-relationship relationship, a simple formula was developed for identifying “similar” stocks / species and an algorithm was developed for constructing prior probability distributions for these parameters. The resultant distributions can be used in Bayesian stock assessments and as the basis for sensitivity tests when applying other methods of stock assessments. The current project will refine the prior distributions for the production parameters and develop and test methods of stock assessment that use the results of assessments for well-studied species in a formal manner to inform assessments of ‘data-poor’ species. If successful, the methods developed would lead to significant benefits not only for the assessment and management of "data poor" SEF low priority, by-product and by-catch species, but also for a range of new and developing fisheries in Australia.

Objectives

1. Expand the database of production parameters for SEF-like species
2. Develop prior probability distributions for steepness and the coefficient of variation about the stock-recruitment relationship using Bayesian meta-analysis
3. Develop a Bayesian framework within which the results for data-rich species can 'inform' assessments for data-poor species.
4. Apply the framework to three case-studies to determine the robustness of the framework.
5. Test the framework by means on Monte Carlo simulation

Final report

Environment
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1998-146
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Evaluation of recreational fishery management controls of commercially important scalefish species

There are increasing demands for Australian fisheries management agencies to demonstrate that fisheries under their jurisdiction are being managed in accordance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development (ESD). The decision-making processes of the ESD management framework...
ORGANISATION:
Agriculture Victoria
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1996-116
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Spawning and larval recruitment processes of commercially important species in coastal waters off Victoria

Information on spawning and larval recruitment processes of commercially important species in coastal waters in south-eastern Australian waters is provided based on four daytime surveys carried out on board the RV Franklin during the summer of 1997 (January-February and December) and the winter of...
ORGANISATION:
Agriculture Victoria
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1994-164
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Mapping and distribution of Sabella spallanzanii in Port Phillip Bay

This final report for the FRDC funded project "Mapping and distribution of Sabella spallanzanii in Port Phillip Bay" is considered in two sections: The first section contains original data.' collected during this project to satisfy Objectives 1, 2 and 3 and is organised to be suitable for...
ORGANISATION:
Agriculture Victoria
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2001-036
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Assessment of the importance of different near-shore marine habitats to important fishery species in Victoria using standardised survey methods, and in temperate and sub-tropical Australia using stable isotope analysis

The first part of this project was a basic survey of fish use of intertidal habitats such as mangroves, mudflats and saltmarshes, which previously had hardly been considered in temperate Australian coastal waters. Mangroves (Avicennia marina) and mudflats were used by at least 41 species of fish....
ORGANISATION:
Agriculture Victoria
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